In a Valley of Violence [Blu-ray]

The movie never made up it's mind, was unable to lead you anywhere. It would try for cute semi-comedy, then gritty realism. The dog was good, a perfect example of the flaws - introduced as a loyal simple fierce protector, then used for fluffy squeezes, finally reduced to dog tricks wrapping itself up in a blanket. And in a series of odd black and white flashbacks meant to plumb the depths of Ethan Hawkes tortured soul, nobody had the heart to tell the director they didn't have flashlights in the 1870s. A mess of a movie, wasting an abundance of talent.

A really entertaining story about revenge. A drifter and his dog walks into a small town, picks a fight with the town bully and knocks him out. Then the drifter gets run out of town by the sheriff, whose son was the bully the drifter knocked out. Afterwards the bully son catches up to the man and they attack him and leave him for dead. Big mistake.Ethan Hawke plays Paul, the drifter who is just passing through town trying to stay out of trouble. Its unavoidable and now he's got to go after all of the people who wronged him. John Travolta plays the one legged town sheriff, a man who rules over the town with intimidation and threats. James Ransome plays his son, the big mouth so started everything.It's a fast and deeply entertaining story. Entire story takes place about a day and a half and there is no fat in the story. Probably one of the best westerns in years.

What a great, little western...!! If you love or even like western movies, give this one a shot (pun intended). And its very well well made and acted. At times there's moments as tributes to the Serigo Leone films, especially Good, Bad & Ugly. And the few moments of humor are not overly done, like many moies today. In other words, this director trusts his audience and not feel like he has to stretch comical moments all thru out the film. Salute to Mr Ethan Hawk for another well done movie.

Ethan Hawke stars as Paul, a lone drifter who wanders into the forgotten town of Denton, Texas – dubbed by locals as the "valley of violence." There, gets into a fight with the wrong man, Gilly (James Ransone), the troublemaking son of the town's unforgiving marshal (John Travolta). I love me an occasional western and especially when it is done right. the start is a bit slow and Ethan as a very low key gun slinger sometimes goes too slow. John is terrific by the way as the Marshall that has the town under his thumb. His grasp of the situation is wonderful. Every character is authentic and I loved it. I won't say what caused the fracas but early on I think you will see it coming. So Sad.

Solidly done western, has everything you'd want from one. It's a story you've seen before but the filmmakers still took the time to do it right, and were clearly invested in the telling. Ethan Hawke is solid in the lead, Travolta plays an interesting sorta-villain. Farmiga has great presence and Karen Gillan holds her own. Doesn't have the comically over-the-top gunfights of the recent Magnificnet 7 remake, but the action is well-done and fitting to the setting/genre. And there's a great dog in it too, who could dislike that?

A caricature of a caricature of a western. Bad acting. Poor dialogue. Fistful of cliches. It makes the worst spaghetti western look like Masterpiece Theater. Just an awful film. Not even worth the 2 bucks rental! Nothing redeemable about it except the views of Galisteo, New Mexico.

The old westerns made serious statements about good vs evil and the difficulty of maintaining honor in complex situations.But this movie couldn't decide whether it wanted to parody westerns or make an honest attempt at the genre. Too bad. The actors were good enough to have made a memorable movie.

Really liked it. Good acting good Western. Don't like Travolta alot. But he was good in this one.

Hawke plays a loner and army deserter who wonders into the down of Denton with his dog. He grunts a lot and tries his best to imitate Eastwood but it is a very shoddy attempt. He soon gets in a fight with the local loudmouth and is forced to leave by the Marshall Travolta who is equally miscast and clearly did this film just for the money. Karen Gillan has a bit part as a dumb bimbo and is totally wasted in that regard as she's a decent actress given the chance. Farmega does a decent job of what is essentially a totally dire story-line/screenplay. How and why this film ever got made is questionable. The loudmouth with a group of friends sneak up on Hawke after he leaves at his makeshift camp outside the town and kill his dog so he goes back intent on revenge. Yes, that is how bad the story-line is- avoid at all costs.

I really enjoyed this film! The (light) humour made it more unique than most westerns but I have loved the genre sonce old classic John Wayne films. Good to see Hollywood can still produce something enjoyable!

I always enjoy a good western , this was a good western . It is how westerns were made when I was a boy , ( now 73) . John Travolta played a good ‘baddies ‘ father . I thouroghly enjoyed it!

Ok film. I thought it was pretty good. Travolta was all right. There are some amusing bits and some great lines. Overall, it’s an all right film.

Decent attempt at a modern spaghetti western uncomplicated solid movie with good performances from the great cast recommended